Bay Area Design Firms?

January 14, 2003 2:31 PM

Bay Area design Firms? I already know about some of the biggies, such as IDEO and Frogdesign, but I was wondering if anyone knew of any other good design firms or advertising agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'm getting the impression that the only companies with any staying power are boring, and everyone with an creativity got leveled after the dot-com crash. Can anyone share any links to prove me wrong?
posted by ookamaka (11 comments total)

Sorry, I don't have any links for you.

I do love ideo's stuff. Especially the spyfish.
posted by tomplus2 at 2:47 PM on January 14, 2003

Complete Dick Answer:

You can try the phone book.

Flaccid Dick Answer:

It would help if you specified exactly what kind of firm you're looking for, branding/advertising/graphic design/interactive/media/industrial etc, and then, every city usually has a creative directory of sorts for clients to use when seeking out firms to hire. As for Graphic Design, you can try the San Francisco chapter of AIGA, they could probably point you to a Bay Area directory. For new media, well, can browse Digital Thread for some of the nice ones. But then, if you only shooting for world class companies like IDEO, certainly you can apply to Pentagram or Ogilvy & Mather.
posted by Stan Chin at 2:52 PM on January 14, 2003

also, can somebody post some links to advertising agencies in minneapolis? and how about chicago? Maybe new York. Heck, while you're at it, throw in singapore, london, and tokyo. This will be fun!
[/grump]
posted by jnthnjng at 2:53 PM on January 14, 2003

Pentagram
Lunar

There are many others though, especially for specific fields.
posted by rudyfink at 2:54 PM on January 14, 2003

Or, you can try Google and find a directory of Ad Agencies.
posted by Stan Chin at 2:54 PM on January 14, 2003

hey while were in san francisco, can anyone post up some good structural engineering firms...it's sorta like design
posted by NGnerd at 3:09 PM on January 14, 2003

Sorry for the lack of a quality filter but this search result page should give you a good start
posted by jeremias at 3:24 PM on January 14, 2003

I recommend FirmList, an excellent resource for those evaluating web design firms around the world.
posted by kat at 6:44 PM on January 14, 2003

beware the grey, ookamaka, i hear it calling.
posted by elphTeq at 8:33 PM on January 14, 2003

Actually Frog nearly tanked- check out Fucked Company: http://comments.fuckedcompany.com/fc/phparchives/search.php?search=frog
IDEO have dumped loads of staff and are kept afloat by their owners: Steelcase corp. http://www.steelcase.com/servlet/ToolsInsightsServlet?ACTION=4&SEC_ID=3&SUB_ID=9&MIN_ID=17&CONTENT_ID=413&NAME=knowledge+library&NAME2=articles+and+papers

Coroflot design firm directory http://www.coroflot.com/public/search_for_firms.asp lists most of the design companies there.

Good: Pentagram, Astro, IDEO, Smart, FuseProject..

(sorry, the "link" button is MIA on my browser)
posted by marvin at 9:52 PM on January 14, 2003

Let me know if there's an opening at Pentagram. That Michael Bierut and Paula Scher are hacks and they need to clean house. And I wish Milton Glaser would stop leaving me voicemail.
posted by Stan Chin at 9:56 PM on January 14, 2003